Eddie and I started dating on July 26, 2001. It was just 6 months after i had separated from my first husband, and so in addition to the normal issues of a new relationship, we also had to deal with the added stresses of my separation and impending divorce.

In October of 2001, we concieved our first child together, but due to several things, we ended up losing the baby to a miscarriage at aproximately 3 - 4 weeks gestation.

Within a few weeks we had concieved for a second time, this time resulting in the baby we are expecting to deliver within the next week.

The first two months of this pregnancy were relatively uneventful, save for the mornin sickness. At 8 weeks, however I began "spotting" and was sent for our first sonogram to check for foetal viability. Luckily everything looked fine, although they put off my due date by a week from July 29 to August 4th 2002 because he seemed small for the anticipated dates.

The next few months were nerve racking as with every cramp or change in my body I was panicking about losing this pregnancy as well, because of all the stress I was under.

Thankfully, we got through the first trimester without any more real problems. As we entered into the second trimester, in January of 2002, the stress of my separation was rising, and therefore so was my nervousness about the pregnancy. At 19 weeks I went for a second sonogram, and again everything looked fine.They told us the baby was almost definately a male. YAY - good news.

the second trimester was fairly easy, aside from the slepless night due to leg cramps and back pain... That is until we hit the 27 week mark.

That was when I started having uterine contractions. The doctor monitored the baby at every appointment and his heartbeat was always around 140 bpm's, which is well within normal range, and she said there was no need to worry I was probably just experiening "uterine irritability" because I had had two previous term deliveries and it was completely normal.. (sure as hell didn't FEEL normal tho)

My third trimester has been... well.... to be blunt, PURE HELL. At 34 weeks I started having regular cramping every day, and began passing out 3-4 times a week, sometimes for 20 minutes or more.

at my 36 week appointment, my doctor told me she would induce me at 37 - 38 weeks... which would be right around July 16, 2002. ok, well when we went back on July 13th, she refused to induce and put it off for another week, and ordered non-stress tests twice a week to monitor Logan. Yay. Fun, wow. So here I am at 37 1/2 weeks going to the hospital every 2-3 days for NST's, and none of my pains were registering on their stupid machines. I was geting VERY frustrated.

38 week apointment left a lot to be desired as she put off my induction yet AGAIN. At this point I was in serious pain, my back was spasming, I was passing out 4-5 times a DAY, I was getting chest pains and I had started developing pre-eclampsia. And still, the doctor was refusing to induce. She sent me for a bio-physical profile which is just a speacialized ultrasound. We were told again that the baby was definately a boy, and he was approximately 6 and 1/4 pounds the day of the bio-physical profile. The cramping was getting worse by the day and I was feeling like I had been hit by a mack truck. But still, the doctor refused to induce.

At my next appointment, she told me I was 1 1/2 cm dilated and she had booked the induction for that Thursday, july 25th, 2002. Cool - an end is in sight... or so we thought.

JULY 25, 2002. We arrive at the hospital at 7:45 am for the induction and are checked in and shown into labour room 4 at the hospital. Induction was booked for 8 am. 9:30 am comes and the doctor is JUST arriving. and she then informs us that instead of starting an iv with pitocin, she is going to use Prostaglandin Gel to ripen my cervix and get things going. Ok. Whatever. Now think back to high school science class. Remember the litmus paper strips? thats what this freakin thing looked like, but it was about 3 times as wide, and had a string attatched to it and the gel on the main part of it. She puts this little contraption up against my cervix, and tells me it can take up to 12 hours to work... WHAT??????????? Geez people....

I am bedridden for 2 hours. The contractions start almost immediately, but then taper off... when the nurse lets me up to go to the washroom I find out why. The damn thing has slipped out of position.

So, 2 hours later, when the doctor finally got back from her office... she tried it again...litmus paper thing against cervix, contractions start, layed still cuz I was scared of it movin again... 3 hours later my back spasms and i am rolled onto my side...guess what... it moved again.

At this point I am extremely agitated. We wait 3 hours for the doctor ... and then she calls the nurses, they tell her it slipped again. Do you think she came back to check on me????? To see if it had affected my cervix at all??? NOPE. just told them to send me home. Noone did an exam to see if the cervix was ready for the iv or not.. nothing. they sent me home without checking me.

I get home at 430. at 5:45 i get hit with the first of a barrage of contractions, and they keep on coming. Every 3-5 minutes, and a bit stronger each time but not strong enough to motivate my doctor to do the IV. She tells me "make another appointment for a non-stress test monday, come see me next week and we'll try again next FRIDAY" Oh, I don't think I have to tell you I wasn't exactly the epitome of joy at the moment.

So here I am, sitting here, the day after my son was supposed to be born - the day after he WOULD have been born had she used an IV, still going through contractions every 3-5 minutes, having a hard time breathing because of the pain, my back is in spasms, and she is refusing to do a damn thing.

Fun, wow..... I'll keep you updated on what happens, but forgive me if I don't submit a nomination for my doctor into the medicine hall of fame.

July 30, 2002

Well she now says she is going to TRY the induction again on Friday....( Aug 2nd).. I swear this woman is going to end up knowing what swallowing teeth is like soon....

AUGUST 3RD, 2002

Ok well here's how it went yesterday: I checked in the hospital at 7:30 a.m. for the induction. Eddie, myself, and our friend Kevin Chamberlain sat around until 10 am waiting for the doctor from HELL to decide to show up. At 10:30 am she comes in (so sorry to wake her ass up to do her JOB), and starts - get this - the GEL again. Oh I dont have to tell you I was not impressed.... So for 2 hours I am laying there afraid to move for it may slip out again.. and at 12:30 the nurse comes in, unhooks the monitors and tells me I can walk around. JOY. Fun, WOW...

2:30 pm - the contractions are 4-5 minutes apart and getting stronger... they tell me I am in active labour. WELL IT'S ABOUT FREAKIN TIME!!! Ok cool...

2:45 pm - I am given a shot of nubain and gravol for the pain..

3:15 pm - I call my mom to tell her whats happening and at 3:30 while on the phone with her i hear a very audible "POP" and its river rapids... my water breaks. So i hang up and make a trip to the bathroom to clean up a bit...and when I return to my bed and sit down, its pressure, OMG the pressure and BANG! haha I thought my water broke the first time?? thats like comparing Niagara Falls to a water fountain... So it's back to the washroom and yet another clean up act... Eddie is making fun of me because I am high off my ass from the pain shot.. "you are laughin at nothing but the air" he says...

4:00 p.m. - the give me a shot of nubain and gravol for the pain, and I tell them to order an epidural.

4:55 pm - I recieve my epidural, and although it went patchy on me, meaning it didnt completely numb the pain, it is a god-send.. someone find the inventor and give him a big ol skwudge for me would ya?

5:15 pm - the check me and tell me I am about 5 1/2 cm dilated and say I can roll on my side if I want to...

5:20 pm - After rolling onto my left side, I started talking to Kevin when all of a sudden.. OMG the pressure.. the baby was crowning. I said " HOLY HELL hes crowning!" and the nurses said no way hun.. but rolled me over to check anyways and sure enough there was the top of his head. (why they try to tell the mother she is wrong about when a child is crowning is beyond me...)

5:23 pm - Dr bitch comes in and tells me to start pushing.

5:25 pm - after 2 pushes, Logan is born!!!! woo hoo!!! Yay me!!

Today - we just brought the lil guy home... back to work now lol